News: Homeopathy and paying for prescriptions

Still catching up from family mishegos, so here’s another short post…. but hey, you get what you pay for, right? Well, maybe not, as these stories illustrate:

Homeopathy, at its core, is based on a silly superstition– a “science” that was made up in the 1800s and doesn’t make any sense at all. To believe in the ability of ultra-super-dilution to increase the effectiveness of a “medicine” flies in the face of everything we know about chemistry and biology. Should your tax dollars pay for this? In the UK, the answer is “no.” In the USA? Stay tuned.

Speaking of people paying for things: the recent health care legislation calls for huge cuts in payments for medical services, including doctor fees and hospital fees. In many places, state-mandated payments for prescription drugs already don’t cover the costs of these medicines to the pharmacy. Should a drug store lose money on every transaction? Chains in California are starting to say “no.” Watch for more of these stories as shoes continue to drop.